Gardeners' Notes:

I am SO happy to have finally got my hands on one of these exotic lovelies after a long search- they're super hard to obtain down here. The 20cm high one I was sent was growing crooked, but I potted it up a little deeper to correct the angle and it hasn't looked back since, having rooted well in it's new position. Was lightly bronzed by the crazy early spring heat that came on this season but now gone back to mid green as the cloudy Jan summer has cut the UV levels drastically.
Is showing good growth with maybe half day shade, (I like to keep baby aloes out of the most hardcore sun; maybe it's just a superstitious thing but it seems to me that they would shelter under other vegetation while growing naturally so that's the way I treat them in culti... read morevation) chugging along happily with no checking. I water well, as per the advice here, and it seems to be working.
Fingers crossed as this is probably one of the premier tree aloes, and I will be thrilled to bits if it prospers down here, as do a lot of other Madagascan species ( Capitata, divaricata, betsilensis). Will update progress.
I'm growing outdoors. I use frost cloths on a very cold night but that's about it as far as shelter goes.

one of the best looking tree aloes- has soft, arched, fairly user-friendly leaves (whitish pointed, sharp teeth) of deep green, tinged with red in cold or sun. Leaves have a deep, curved cup shaped cross section that ooze a brilliant 'radioactive yellow-green' liquid when cut. This juice will then dry a deep purple. Not sure what sort of chemicals are in this plant- seems unusual though and probably has some 'use'- just need someone to figure out a use for it.

Flowers are profuse, branched and a bright red in mid winter. Seedlings germinate well in heat and humidity, and appreciate lots of water and humidity first year... then need to back off a bit on both or will rot. Once established at year of age in pot, become much more drought tolerant but still I would water more... read more than a normal aloe. This is one of the most thirsty species I know of, and one of the few that loves the massive amounts of rain it gets year round in Florida. Very fast growers- if planted in good soil and watered well, will mature in 4 years from a seed to 3' tall flowering adult.

This is one of the most prolific seed producers of any aloe I grow, cranking out thousands of seeds a year. Additionally, these seeds are some of the easiest for me to germinate and I get a great rate of germination in a damp, warm environment.

Seems particularly prone to ants and their minions (mealy bugs, etc.

Madagascan tree aloe, solitary stem.

This species has an amazing spectrum of climates is seems completely happy in, from the arid deserts of inland southern California to the subtropical wet climate of southern Florida. It also grows well in clay soils as well as sandy ones. Does not tolerate very low temps, however.

Freeze in Los Angeles Jan 07 slightly damaged a few of these plants though mine was unaffected despite the severe damage to so many other species in my yard. THis plant was also flowering, and its flowers were similarly unaffected. The Aloe barberae overhead was nearly melted, so this is a relatively hardy species it turns out.... surprise for a plant with such succulent leaves from such a warm climate! Freezes hit the Los Angeles arboretum Madagascan garden periodically and the flowers of this species tend to be affected long before any foliage is.